Redheugh Colliery

Location:

Gateshead
1 miles [1 km] SW of Newcastle

Map Ref:

(Sheet 88) NZ244626, 54° 57' 27" N, 1° 37' 3" W

Maps:

1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

Opened:

1872

Closed:

28 May 1927

Pits:

Shaft details for Redheugh Colliery

Owners:

1880's - John Fleming & John Milling

1890's - Owners of Redheugh Colliery

1910's - Owners of Redheugh Colliery Ltd.

Output:

1882 - Coal.

1888 - Coal.

1890 - Coal.

1896 - Coal: Gas, Household, Steam.

1902 - Coal: Gas, Household, Steam.

1914 - Coal: Gas, Household, Steam.

1921 - Coal: Gas, Household, Steam.

1923 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household, Manufacturing, Steam.

1924 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household, Manufacturing.

1925 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household, Manufacturing, Steam.

1927 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household, Manufacturing, Steam.

Employment:

Year	Total	Below	Above
1896	374	318	56
1902	495	415	80
1914	916	796	120
1921	541	392	149
1923	685	590	95
1924	591	495	96
1925	374	293	81
1925	Temporarily closed 09/25
1927	63	22	41
1927	Abandoned 25/3/27

Colliery Management (prior to 1955)

Seams Worked:

1914 - Brockwell, Busty, Harvey

1921 - Brockwell, Busty, Harvey

1923 - Brockwell, Busty, Harvey

1924 - Brockwell, Busty, Harvey

1925 - Brockwell, Busty, Harvey [Temporarily closed 09/25]

1927 - Brockwell, Busty, Harvey [Abandoned 25/3/27]

Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Redheugh Colliery

Notes:

1874 - Redheugh Colliery, Gateshead, commenced to sink and was put down below the Hutton Seam.

1875 - A boring was put down at Redheugh Colliery below the Brockwell Seam, proving the lower coals worthless.

Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents for Redheugh Colliery

Description

The Redheugh Colliery was sunk in 1872, and is now the property of the executors of Jno. Fleming. The following seams are worked : the Harvey, at a depth of 61 fathoms, 2 feet 2 inches thick ; the Busty, 73 fathoms, 2 feet 8 inches, and the Brockwell, 95 fathoms, 2 feet 9 inches. The Hutton seam is worked out ; the Bensham, Five Quarter, Three Quarter, and the bottom Busty are also here. The annual output is 120,000 tons, giving employment to 420 men and boys, producing house and steam coal.

Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham

An unusual happening at Redheugh Colliery, Durham, on the 5th January, 1929, points to an explosion of gas, or gas and coal dust, in the workings of an abandoned mine.

This colliery was sunk in 1871 and was finally abandoned on 28th May, 1927. There were two shafts 16 and 10 ft. diameter respectively, both 570 yards deep to the Brockwell seam. In addition to the Brockwell, the Busty and Harvey seams had been extensively worked.

All seams had been worked with safety lamps, the roads being dry and dusty with good roofs.

Some months before the explosion and when dismantling one of the shafts a piece of burning timber fell down the pit. Water was allowed to run down the shaft for some days with the object of extinguishing the fire, It was later assumed that the fire had been put out as no smoke was observed coming up either of the shafts.

When the work of dismantling was completed both shafts were walled around with 10ft, high walls and sealed over with planks.

About 1.5 p.m. on the date mentioned a violent explosion took place, flames shooting out of the winding shaft to an estimated height of about 70 feet, followed by dense volumes of smoke. The timber seals placed over the shaft were blown 60 yards away and a rope wheel 9 ins, in diameter which was known to be fixed in the fan shaft was thrown 90 yards away into a school yard. Over 200 panes of glass were smashed in the neighbouring dwelling houses.

Investigations were made but the cause of the explosion remains a mystery.

1929 Mines Inspectors Report

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None Found

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Baker, John, 10 Mar 1910, aged 47, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone
						Bean, William Ronald, 08 Nov 1912, aged 15, Pony Driver, blood poisoning, due to a blow on the foot by the haulage rope chain
						Bell, Horace Frank, 07 Jul 1909, aged 21, Onsetter, caught by cage at mid-workings
						Hutchinson, John, 17 Aug 1950, aged 8, [Not employed], explosion of gas from old shaft
						Jobes, Ralph Anderson, 01 Jul 1875, aged 55, Lampman, fell off an engine pillar, Chester Ward Coroner's Inquest, place: Teams, cause: fell down ropehole in Redheugh Colliery (DRO Ref: COR/C/2/335)
						Joyce, Anthony, 05 Apr 1895, died from natural causes in the Newcastle Infirmary; it was said he had injured himself in the pit, but there was no evidence to that effect [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a colliery accident]
						Maddock, James, 23 Jan 1905, aged 28, Hewer, Deceased after being off work 10 weeks started to hew on the 23rd January. About two hours after he had started the deputy visited him, and found him lying on the pavement breathing heavily, and nothing to suggest any accident. He never recovered consciousness but died in the pit. A doctor saw the body within an hour or so, and gave evidence at the inquest that death was due to syncope due to mitral disease of the heart, which may have been accelerated by intemperance, and so the Jury found
						Patterson, John, 23 Mar 1900, aged 22, Stoneman, A gunpowder shot fired by means of a squib was lighted in a top canch, but as it appeared to hang fire both men returned to the shot, leaving their lamps behind them. Just as they reached the spot the charge exploded, killing Young and inflicting injuries on Patterson, from which he afterwards succumbed. [Inspection made & inquest attended] [More information ...]
						Proctor, Timothy, 22 May 1918
						Reynolds, Owen, 26 Sep 1876, aged 23, Branch Horseman, crushed by a truck
						Taylor, James, 26 Aug 1889, aged 52, Hewer, killed by a fall of roof
						Whittle, George, 09 Oct 1912, aged 60, Stoneman, whilst engaged in taking off side coal and stone from a corner of a roadway, he took the coal out for a width of over 2 feet, and a length of 7 feet, when the top stone came away, no props or stays having been set under it
						Young, Walter, 23 Mar 1900, aged 58, Stoneman, A gunpowder shot fired by means of a squib was lighted in a top canch, but as it appeared to hang fire both men returned to the shot, leaving their lamps behind them. Just as they reached the spot the charge exploded, killing Young and inflicting injuries on Patterson, from which he afterwards succumbed. [Inspection made & inquest attended] [More information ...]

						13 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Redheugh Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Redheugh Colliery

Credits

Sources:

1875 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1499)
1876 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1734)
1880 List of Mines
1881 Mines Inspectors Annual Report
1888 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1889 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6015)
1890 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1895 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8074), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
1900 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 536), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines, copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1902 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1905 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2910)
1909 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1909 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 5177)
1910 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 5676)
1912 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 6983), Newcastle District (No. 2) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1914 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1919 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1921 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1923 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1924 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1925 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1927 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
1929 Mines Inspectors Report
An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Volume L-R, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1887
Banners of the Durham Coalfield, Norman Emery, 1998, Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN 0-7509-1708-3
Contributions by members of the Public
History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham by Francis Whellan. Second edition published in 1894.
The Times Newspaper
Victoria History of the Counties of England – Durham. Published in three volumes in 1907.



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